Former Ghanaian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Dr Tony Aidoo, has called for a strong military deployment to confront illegal mining activities in the Amansie Central District of the Ashanti Region, following revelations in a JoyNews investigative documentary that uncovered alleged systemic corruption and complicity by local authorities in the galamsey menace.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Dr Aidoo said Ghana’s fight against illegal mining requires more than rhetoric — it demands sustained, forceful action using the nation’s security services.

“I’ve already said, and I think on this issue I share with now the solution of putting the military to work. Don’t the military get paid? Why are they sitting in the barracks?” he said during the interview.

In a wide-ranging critique of current enforcement efforts, Dr Aidoo argued that soldiers, who are paid to protect Ghana’s “territorial integrity”, should be actively deployed to clear illegal mining camps, secure cleared areas, and then move on to the next hotspot.

“You are paid to defend our territorial integrity, and the territorial integrity is under attack now,” he said. “They are not paid to sit in the barracks.”

His remarks follow the JoyNews Hotline documentary titled “A Tax for Galamsey: The extortion racket fueling illegal mining”, which has sparked national outrage and intensified debate on governance in the mining sector.

The documentary exposes how a sophisticated “pay-to-mine” network in the Amansie Central District has allegedly allowed illegal miners to operate with apparent approval from officials. Undercover reporting and secret recordings suggest that miners are charged fixed fees — including GH₵6,000 per year for banned changfan machines — in exchange for uninterrupted operations, with stickers, receipts and bank deposits formalising the transactions.

At the centre of the exposé is the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Amansie Central, Emmanuel Obeng-Agyemang, whose recorded statements appear to confirm his involvement in the authorisation of this informal system.

The revelations have triggered widespread calls for his dismissal and possible prosecution.

Civil society figures, including the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, have publicly urged the immediate removal of the DCE following the documentary’s release.

Dr Aidoo acknowledged that deploying the military alone is not a panacea but argued it must be part of a clear, ongoing strategy to disrupt entrenched galamsey operations.

“Two battalions, a thousand soldiers, armed, supported by platoons… as soon as you clear the forest, you leave the platoon there,” he said, illustrating his proposed approach.